Kidnapped Child not returned to Parents

This child was kidnapped 8 years ago. He was found 2 months ago, and now they are saying that he needs to stay in foster care for another 4 months because he is not ready to be told about his parents. Apparently the parents had some other problems previously because their other children are living with a friend though they have contact. Do you think this is the right thing to do? Should the state have the right to determine what happens to this child just because he was kidnapped?

HOUSTON ? A Houston boy kidnapped eight years ago is still not ready to meet his parents after being in foster care since authorities found him in March, Texas child welfare officials said Wednesday during a court hearing.

Officials with Child Protective Services told state District Judge Mike Schneider that a therapist who has been working with 8-year-old Miguel Morin believes the boy is not yet ready to be told who his parents are or to have visits with them. Authorities allege Miguel was taken as an infant, and his baby sitter and her mother are now jailed on kidnapping charges.

The boy will remain in the state's care at least until a Sept. 12 hearing, said Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman for CPS in Houston.

"His parents have gotten photographs (of the boy) and bought him toys and clothes to be given to a caseworker to provide to him," Olguin said.

CPS officials said there are a few options for Miguel's living arrangements: He could be reunited with his parents Auboni Champion-Morin and Fernando Morin, live with another family member or live with a Houston couple who are taking care of the Morins' four other children under an agreement between the couples.

Olguin said CPS plans to conduct a review of the home of Juanita and Joseph Aguillard, where the Morins' other children, ages 7 to 14, are living, to see if it would be a good environment for Miguel. Juanita Aguillard said she had a bed ready for Miguel in case he comes to live in her home.

Mark Cooper, an attorney for Miguel's father, said the boy's parents "are holding up well."

"They are understanding of the process and they are engaged in their therapy," Cooper said. Judge Schneider had previously ordered Miguel and his parents to undergo therapy.

Olguin said the Morins, who live in Houston and are both 29, are being cooperative with child welfare officials.

"They are going to group counseling, couple's counseling. They are attending meetings with CPS and other family members to come up with a plan for Miguel and see what's in his best interest," she said.

The boy has been in foster care since authorities found him in March living in East Texas with Krystle Tanner, who had been Miguel's baby sitter in Houston. Investigators believe she kidnapped the boy in 2004 when he was just 8 months old and concealed his identity for years.

Tanner and her mother, Gloria Walker, each have been charged with kidnapping and injury to a child. They have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed in San Augustine, about 140 miles northeast of Houston.

Authorities allege Tanner and her mother hid Miguel in homes in Central and East Texas, kept him out of school and didn't call him by his given name, instead renaming him Jaquan. The boy, not knowing his true identity, called Tanner his mother and Walker grandmother, investigators said.

It sounds like a very heartbreaking situation. Without knowing the whole story it is hard to say what is going on. I do know though that if one child is taken out of a home CPS many times does not let siblings stay in the home. When my nephew was born he was taken from his birth mother straight from birth. When her rights were terminated with her older children, that made it so any future child she had would be taken from birth (NY). My SIL and BIL were given him as a foster child at 4 days old. He was later adopted. In this case if CPS had removed the other siblings I can understand them not bringing another child into that home. It wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with him being kidnapped. It would be the same if they gave birth to another child.

CPS does very greatly by state though. NY and TN are like night and day when it comes to CPS and what they can/will do.

Returning a child to their bio parents after years of not knowing them is terrifying to the child. His babysitter was all he had known and it is not something to be rushed into.

On top of that, their other children have been taken from them or are not living with them. That is another factor in considering if he should be with them at all.

This. I think the court is exercising a very reasonable amount of caution. Kidnapped children who have been gone for a significant period of time are generally secluded & counseled for a period of time before being reunited. It sucks for the parents, but at least they know their child is safe. And better to make sure reuniting is done properly, than to have to remove him from another home after he's gotten attached, kwim?

Returning a child to their bio parents after years of not knowing them is terrifying to the child. His babysitter was all he had known and it is not something to be rushed into.

On top of that, their other children have been taken from them or are not living with them. That is another factor in considering if he should be with them at all.

But he is not with her either, he is with foster parents because she is in jail for kidnapping. It seems to me like it would be more damaging for him to get to know another set of people and then be moved from them too. No matter what the living arrangements are of their other children, there is no evidence that they were abused or anything, and the state did not take them away. They should be able to make decisions about their own child.

there is no evidence that they were abused or anything, and the state did not take them away. They should be able to make decisions about their own child.

Do you know that for sure? If the other children are not living with their parents there is normally a reason. For CPS to have handled it this way makes me think there is a reason that is not in the article.

But he is not with her either, he is with foster parents because she is in jail for kidnapping. It seems to me like it would be more damaging for him to get to know another set of people and then be moved from them too. No matter what the living arrangements are of their other children, there is no evidence that they were abused or anything, and the state did not take them away. They should be able to make decisions about their own child.

There's obviously something going on for FOUR other children to be living apart from both parents, who seem to be still living together. Who voluntarily takes in four kids unless it's a really serious situation? And since the courts haven't been involved, how do we know that the replacement home is a good place for those kids, much less a returned kidnap victim? These are all things that need to be examined very carefully and it shouldn't be rushed. Foster parents are trained to provide for their placed children in an emotionally responsible way, and this boy is going to be getting lots of counseling because of his kidnapping, so I have no doubt that he'll be fine walking away to his bio-parents if/when it's the right thing for him. I put the 8-year-old's long term well-being over everyone else's rights.

He has to go somewhere and fostering is the best I think in this situation. I'm quite aware that the babysitter is in jail. I meant that he has never known them as parents only her. They are complete strangers to him. Bringing him back to his parents and as was pp taking him out later like the other children will completely wreck him.